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Is 64 bit better than 32 bit and why?

Hi

I wonder if OS 64 bit is better than 32 bit, lets say for xp and vista. I saw some chats that 64 bit is better and faster than 32 bit. Does this is real with all big processors that are available today and fast motherboards and graphical cards. If the 64 bit is faster then why 32 bit exists and from where 64 bit gain its power.

Are games better on 64 bits and does this affrect direct X 9, 10 and 11.

Did anyone experienced this dramatic force jump when switched to 64 bit.

Re: Is 64 bit better than 32 bit and why?

This is a difficult question to answer because the response is really: "It depends."

Assuming all your drivers works - which could be a big assumption - then your 64X machine will not be limited by the memory limitation. That's is you'll be able to effectively use more that 4GB of memory. Is that good? Maybe, if you routinely run out of memory then it's good. If not, then not much ground is gained.

Also, is your software 64X ready. If yes then it'll be great. If not then it will use 32X emulation which could be slower that if it ran on a regular 32X bit machine.

The 64 bit world has been around for at least 10 years. The hardware has caught up so that most can change rather easily. Nevertheless, it's still not mainstream because of your question. It's just not clear if you'll benefit and sometimes it's just painful.

Personally, I think we will all be there eventually. I think we are on the cusp. We all need a little push to move there and then support from vendors will be more regular. What that little push is though I don't know.

Re: Is 64 bit better than 32 bit and why?

I'd second this. If you have a 64-bit application that genuinely benefits from having more than 2GB memory, then it should run faster. However 64-bit data structures (pointers, etc) take twice as much space as 32-bit, meaning that a 64-bit executable is always going to be larger than its 32-bit equivalent. More significantly, most processors are limited by memory transfer speeds (they can spend more time waiting for code/data to be pulled in from main memory than actually running it) so if program data is doubled in size, that can have the same effect as halving memory speed.

As for games, Far Cry was the first example offering an "enhanced" 64-bit version (reviewed by HardOCP here) which offered improvements (greater viewing distance, more detailed textures) but with similar performance levels to 32-bit. Developers tend to target a particular hardware/software specification, so any improvements (64-bit, DirectX, etc) are more likely to come in terms of features/graphics quality rather than raw performance.

One downside to 64-bit OS's is their inability to run 16-bit code - which can also cause problems with 32-bit software using a 16-bit installer. If you have a significant amount of older software, this could be a sticking point.

Apparently the first link from the respected tomshardware apparently they concluded

Our hopes that Vista might be able to speed up applications are gone. First tests with 64-bit editions result in numbers similar to our 32-bit results, and we believe it's safe to say that users looking for more raw performance will be disappointed with Vista. Vista is the better Windows, because it behaves better, because it looks better and because it feels better. But it cannot perform better than Windows XP. Is this a K.O. for Windows Vista in the enthusiast space?

Although application performance has had this drawback, the new Windows Vista performance features SuperFetch and ReadyDrive help to make Vista feel faster and smoother than Windows XP. Our next article will tell you how they work.

Are those drivers SuperFetch and Readydrive included in windows vista cd, that means that they are installed together with the OS and they are not just patches to be added later on?

Now I wonder but I know windows vista support direct X10 which should mean better graphical resolutions for games but in my oppinion this do not justify real needing passage to vista. After all nvidia can also submit direct X 10 drivers for windows XP.

Re: Is 64 bit better than 32 bit and why?

At this point with Windows 7 just around the corner there's no point spending money upgrading to Vista. And I'm not sure that I would upgrade a XP era machine anyway. It may be possible since the driver situation is much improved now but it's likely the machine will be a little slower. In my opinion, new machines deserve the new operating system.

But this is about 64 vs 32 bit. I hadn't seen that article comparing benchmarks on the same machine. Although that machine was a little underpowered, I doubt that a 10% performance increase with 64X Vista will be really noticeable to a user. It was a nice study. Thanks for pointing it out.

Re: Is 64 bit better than 32 bit and why?

Greetings,.... I'm new here,.... just installed Outpost Pro Suite on an XP PRO x64 machine that I've had for a year. In my experience,.... even the 32 bit programs seem to run a little quicker and are more stable under the x64 bit OP.

There aren't many true x64 bit programs out there just yet that are of use to me,... so the speed increase and stability on the x32 bit programs have been great.

I've also been playing with Windows 7 RC1 x64 Ultimate on another HD. Outpost Pro seems stable and well behaved do far. I am anxiously waiting the official release of Windows 7. So far,... it's way better than Vista,... although I think it has a Vista core. Speeds are noticeably faster over XP on the same machine,.... with similar HD's.